Why the young should familiarise themselves with re-employment…

The NTUC recently launched a guidebook to educate and help companies get ready for the raising of the re-employment age from the current 65 to 67. From July 2017, employers are expected to offer re-employment to eligible employers up to the age of 67.

NTUC U Live’s guidebook on “Understanding Re-employment”.

But the guidebook shouldn’t just be read by companies and mature workers. Instead, younger workers should also start reading the guidebook and understand for themselves how re-employment works.

As Singaporean’s life expectancy increases over time, today’s young workers will also become tomorrow’s mature workers. Hence the need to be in the know of how they can be re-employed when the time comes.

According to the guidebook, the life expectancy of Singapore has increased from 66 in 1970 to 82 in 2010. And by 2030, 900,000 citizens will be aged 65 and above.

Mature workers are a source of untapped potential

Mature workers are a source of untapped potential.

The other reason why the young should understand re-employment, is because the labour market is tightening.

The foreign manpower quota is decreasing to ensure a Singapore core in certain industries. This means that mature workers can then fill the vacancies which were possibly once open to foreigners.

Adding to it, there are fewer births which means that there will be lesser workers entering the workforce in future, meaning that more mature workers will be retained to work alongside younger workers.

Mature workers are talents in their own right

Mature workers can share their experience and skills honed over many years.

As the chinese saying goes ‘家有一老， 如有一宝’ (having an old family member at home is like having a gem), having mature workers staying on in an organisation can really be valuable. They bring with them valuable expertise, experience and skills which have been garnered over many years. Some of these are much more precious than textbooks or lecture slides can impart.

Journey started many years back

The journey for re-employment of mature workers started in 2012 when the Retirement and Re-employment Act came into force. This allowed workers to continue working beyond the age of 62 if they are able and want to.

Since then, Singapore’s ageing workforce benefited from the longer working years as they increased their financial resources whilst enhancing their well-being both mentally and physically.

With the increasing life expectancy of Singaporeans, the NTUC has been constantly calling on the government to raise the re-employment age ceiling over the years to allow mature workers, who are willing, to continue working.

Through its U Live platform, the Labour Movement has been strongly advocating for workplaces to be ageless – providing fair and equal opportunities for all.

NTUC Deputy Secretary General and champion for mature workers said:

“The re-employment ceiling will go up from 65 to 67 from July next year. We are therefore in the stage of working with companies to get ready. “